Combined Arts Training and Tactics Foundations: Hand Strikes -- Jab and Cross Punch

C.A.T.T. hand strikes -- boxing adapted



Hooking Palm Strike

 The basic hand strikes in the C.AT.T. fighting system are based on one of the most effective striking systems in history (for hands anyway): Boxing.

We utilize the four basic boxing strikes: Jab, cross, hook and uppercut. The punches in my system are essentially the same as you see in any boxing class, except for one major difference -- we use a closed fist, but will also throw them open-handed, as palm-strike variations. But I'll talk more about that in a future post.

There are other strikes, but these are the foundation hand techniques. Remember, these are the basic techniques that you practice constantly and consistantly until they are second nature.
These are the hand strikes you work on every time you train. Every time.

So let's break down each strike:

Jab -- Well, if you've been reading this blog at all, you've seen my previous posts about the jab and how important it is. Simply put, it is the foundation for all the other strikes, including kicks and even setting up takedowns. A good jab is vitally important in my system, it will set up everything else. Check out my post on the jab for basic guidelines: http://martial-arts-fitness-stuff.blogspot.com/2012/02/jab-elements-of-effective-strike.html

Cross (straight) punch:

• This punch fires off the back leg, with the rear hand.
• Open up your hips and shoulders.
• Rear shoulder and hip shoot toward the target as you punch.
• Rear foot pivots toward the target.
• Rear heel lifts slightly, pushing your entire body into the punch.
• Strike with the big knuckles.
• Don't lock your elbow on impact.
• Keep your chin down and tucked into your punching shoulder
• This is a power punch, more so than the jab.
• Since it comes off the back side your body, it has more distance to travel in order to build power and momentum, and the entire rear half of the body -- from the foot, through the hip and the shoulder -- pivot toward the target.

The jab and the cross are the classic one-two of punching and, when thrown as a proper combination, will have more effective elements of speed and power than any other two strikes in your arsenal. Also a perfect combination for setting up power kicks off the back leg.

Here is a movie with a little C.A.T.T. boxing:

Next up: Power punching with the hook punch and the uppercut.

The Jab: A Lesson From a Street Fight

The pure effectiveness of the jab

An atypical street fight
I saw a street fight many years ago, back in the day when I was inclined to hang out in places where such things happened and with people who they happened to, and I have recounted this fight several times to many of my martial arts students and other likewise interested persons.

Now, I have seen a number of street fights, bar fights, etc. (and have even been in a couple or three myself) but this was different: one of the fighters had true skill and a dynamite jab.


Jab master!
After the prerequisite shouting and pushing, one of the antagonists, a heavier, solid-built guy, charged the other, obviously going for a take down (he had been a state-level high school champ wrestler). The other man, tall and lanky and a few weight divisions smaller, stepped away and threw a picture-perfect, solid jab to the nose. Bam! Instant blood.

Stick and move
This went on for a bit--the big guy charging, trying to grab his opponent for a takedown or sometimes throwing wild, swinging punches, the skinnier guy jabbing accurately and moving away--until the bigger man began to stagger with each blow. Finally, the skinny guy followed the left jab with a hard right cross. This resulted in a spray of blood that splattered my shirt, and I was several feet away from the action. It only took a couple of these to lay the big man out, his face a mask of blood. As he struggled back to his feet, which took awhile, since his legs had been transformed into rubber, the skinny guy gave me a nod and took off (it was my job to keep the big guys friends from jumping him from behind).

Lesson learned.
So here was a huge lesson learned--not by the big guy, he didn't learn a thing, I saw him get in another fight a couple of weeks later, broken nose and all. But I learned how effective the jab could be. It became a foundation of my arsenal from that day on.

I also learned a bit about "fighting backwards." The bigger guy was, by any account, the more aggressive of the two combatants, always moving forward, always attacking. The other man backed away, sidestepped, and moved aside, even as he was landing ever-more-punishing blows.  In spite of the aggression of the bigger man, there was absolutely no doubt as to who won that fight. I laugh at amateur fight-watchers when they say "but he was more aggressive, he should have won." Aggression without effectiveness means nothing. "Fighting backwards" is a combat skill that is difficult to master, but perhaps one of the most effective.

In future posts I will be talking more about the jab--how you use footwork
to make it more effective, how you use it to set up other strikes, how to adapt it to self defense.


The jab is a near-perfect weapon. Every martial artist should work to perfect it.